Former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been incarcerated since last summer. / Jonathan Wiggs, AP

by Mark Blaudschun, Special for USA TODAY Sports

by Mark Blaudschun, Special for USA TODAY Sports

FALL RIVER, Mass. â?? In a move that could put a definitive timeline on the Aaron Hernandez reality series, a Bristol County judge set a tentative trial date for the former New England Patriots tight end, who has been charged with the murder of three men in two different episodes.

Hernandez listened to his lawyers make a plea to Bristol County Superior Court Justice E. Susan Garsh asking that murder and firearms indictments made by a grand jury against Hernandez in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd be dismissed.

Hernandez mother Terry watched the proceedings in muted silence, sitting a few rows behind her son in a packed Courtroom 6.

Judge Garsh did not rule on that motion, but in response to a request from Hernandez' defense team and backed by the prosecution for a quickening of the proceedings, she tentatively ruled that the trial could begin on Oct. 6 with the questioning of potential jurors.

"Put that in pencil,'' Judge Garsh said as she checked her calendar for the start of what looms as the first of two murder trials for Hernandez.

Last month, Hernandez was arraigned on charges of the murder of two men outside of a Boston night club two years ago.

The murder of Lloyd, who was engaged to the sister of Hernandez's fiancee, occurred in Bristol County, near Hernandez's home, which was the reason for the different setting on Monday -- the Justice Center in the working class town of Fall River.

Hernandez lawyers admitted while there was a lot of "smoke'' and that Hernandez "participated''' in the proceedings which led to Lloyd's murder, a half mile from Hernandez home, they also contended there was not enough tangible evidence to merit the murder charges which were filed against him.

The hard news from Monday's proceedings came when Hernandez, who has been held without bail at a Bristol County jail facility since last summer, pleaded not guilty to charges he attacked a handcuffed inmate and threatened to kill a guard.

Those charges go to the bottom of a growing list of allegations made against Hernandez.

An official starting date for jury selection for the Lloyd murder should be set at a pre-trial hearing on July 7th.